Cashel C.B.S. - 1984 Tipperary G.A.A. Centenary Yearbook, pp 107-108

Cashel C.B.S. - 1984

Tipperary G.A.A. Centenary Yearbook, pp 107-108

Cashel C.B.S. continues to be one of the strongest bastions of hurling in the county, and even beyond. Its successes during the past year have been impressive by any standard and the strength of the game at the underage levels gives reason to believe that these successes will continue. This past year the school was beaten in the semi-final of the Rice Cup (under 14), by Nenagh C.B.S. and in the under-15 Munster 'B' championship they lost the final to Ard Scoil Ris of Limerick.

The dream of Cashel C.B.S. has always been to capture the Harty Cup but only in the last few years has this become a viable proposition. This year it seemed within grasp until it was snatched away by the Farranferris goalkeeper in Clogheen on March 9.

Cashel started their preparation, early in December, under the guidance of John Gleeson and Mattie Finnerty. They played four practice matches, winning all of them including one against St. Kieran's, Kilkenny, the eventual Leinster champions. All was ready for their first outing against Thurles C.B.S. at Boherlahan on February 15. They looked in dire trouble with ten minutes remaining and a five-point deficit but a three-goal blitz by Waiter Carroll, in a period of four minutes, saw them through.

The team now met Farranferris in the quarter-final, with ten of the team that had made their exit at that stage the previous year. The game was played in Clogheen and the opening ten minutes were tempestuous, as both teams were over-eager, over-aggressive and over-motivated. Three players found themselves on the sideline, two of them from Cashel. This thirteen-man team found themselves three points in arrears at the interval but fought back to be a point ahead with two minutes to go. They were deprived of victory when DJ. Kiely of Farna pointed a sideline puck to level the scores at 0-10 each.

The replay was a classic Harty Cup tie and was played before a large attendance. Cashel were unlucky early on when a Michael Browne shot hit the crossbar. Just before halftime a defensive blunder let Farna in for a goal and a three-point interval lead. Cashel came back in the second half to level the game but gave away some unnecessary frees to let Farna go five points in front. They brought this back to two and it was then that Waiter O'Carroll raced through to have his blistering shot stopped by Kingston, of Farna fame. The whistle blew soon after to leave Cashel two points behind a scoreline of 1-13 to 1-11. Farranferris went on to win the Harty Cup and the All-Ireland.

The class of the Cashel players was revealed when two of them, Pat O'Donoghue and WaIter O'Carroll, were selected on the Munster Colleges team for the revived inter-provincial competition. They were the first two Cashel C.B.S. players to receive this honour. Four of the team were picked on the county minor team, the above two plus Philip Ryan and Thomas Leamy. The complete panel was as follows: Pat O'Donoghue, Donal Ryan, Michael Moloney, Michael Perdue and Joseph McGrath of Cashel, Neil Fitzgerald, Phil Shanaghan, Declan Ryan, Dan Quirke, of Clonoulty, Philip Ryan and David Delaney of Boherlahan, Francis Ryan of Golden (capt.) Andrew O'Dwyer, Sean Alley, Seamus Furlong, Seamus O'Dwyer, WaIter O'Carroll, Pat Fitzgerald, Michael Browne, John Doherty, Paul Hennessy, D.J. Butler and Pat O'Farrell of Knockavilla.

There was some consolation for the school when they retained the Canon Fitzgerald Cup on April 8. If they were unfortunate to lose the Harty Cup they were fortunate to defeat Thurles C.B.S. in this final. Cashel started well and were ahead by 2-5 to 0-8 at the interval, thanks to two splendid goals by corner forward Michael Moloney. The second half was all Thurles and with two minutes remaining they led by 1 -12 to 2-8. But luck was with Cashel as Dan Quirke levelled and substitute, Robert Hanly, goaled before the final whistle to leave them winners by 3-9 to 1-12.

Cashel had previously won the cup in 1972, 1973, 1976, 1981 and 1983. They drew with Borrisokane in the first round, were level again at the end of the second day and had to play a third time before Cashel emerged winners by 2-6 to 0-9. This victory was achieved as a result of two late goals by Declan Ryan. It took two games to overcome Nenagh C.B.S. in the quarter final. The first day's game was abandoned by referee, Gerry Ring, with fifteen minutes remaining, because of the heated exchanges. Cashel won the replay by 1-12 to 1-6. The semi-final against Tipperary C.B.S. proved to be a stroll into the final, with Cashel winning by 3-12 to 1-1.

Cashel C.B.S. competed in the Dean Ryan Cup (under 16 1/2 A) for the first time and were beaten in the semi-final by De La Salle of Waterford. On their way they defeated Farranferris and Nenagh C.B.S. The team was on the young side with thirteen eligible again for next year.

Croke Cup

Cashel captured the Croke Cup (county under-16) for the fifth time' when they defeated Thurles C.B.S. in the final. Previous wins were in 1959, 1962, 1973 and 1980. The path to the final included victories over Roscrea C.B.S., Templemore C.B.S. and Nenagh C.B.S. In the final they had two points to spare over a fancied Thurles C.B.S. team in a scoreline of 3-6 to 3-4.

And so, Cashel C.B.S. can look back on a splendid year, even if the greatest of all the hurling prizes eluded them. Despite the size of the school, about 270, they have a great depth of talent from under-14 upwards. As well they have a bunch of dedicated mentors in Mattie Finnerty, John Gleeson and Jack Ryan, who can inculate their enthusiasm in the players. Finally, they have a management that gives the game the required backing and a community that follow their fortunes with interest and support.